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If you can read this, you don't need an e-reader

Because I have a digital-only novella being released in a couple of weeks, I’ve been fielding a lot of questions from readers asking if the book is coming out in paper, many of whom mention with the question that if it’s not, they won’t be able to read the story. (That story, by the way, is Take Me, an epilogue novella in the Stark Trilogy. It’s coming December 3! End commercial …)

Here’s the thing: if you own an iPhone or Android phone, a tablet, or a computer (or have access to a computer) you can read a digital novella. You don’t have to buy anything except whatever digital story you want to read. Really. It’s easy!

I’m a Mac girl, so I’m going to give you examples here in Apple-speak, but you can find the equivalent apps for Android devices and Windows computers.

If you have an iPhone or iPad (or other smartphone/tablet), you can download the free app for Kindle, Nook, Kobo or iBooks. Once you own that app, you just go to Amazon, B&N, Kobo or iTunes respectively and buy the book you want. You have to have an account at those retailers to buy a book, so once you’ve purchased the digital book it is there in your online library.

So how do you read it?

Sign into the App on your device. Once you’re in your account, the app will populate your digital library. Pull up that book and read, enjoying the fact that you now have a book in your fingertips even while you’re standing in line at the grocery store!

But what if you don’t have a smartphone or tablet? Never fear! Since you’re reading this, I’m 99.9% sure that you have a computer. If you have a computer, you can download the Kindle app to read Kindle books on your computer (and if you have a Mac, I **think** that the new Mavericks OS gives you access to iBooks on your computer). I’m not certain about Nook or Kobo, but no matter what, if there is a digital book that you want to read and it is available for the Kindle, you can get it on your computer.

“But I only have a computer at work,” you say, “and I can’t download a personal app.” Or, “But I don’t own a computer, but I check in at the library sometimes.” Again, no problem. You don’t need the app. You can read both Kindle and Nook books “in the cloud.”

For Kindle, go to read.amazon.com — sign in with your username and password, and you see all your books right there in the web. When you open the book, it looks like this:

Easy, huh?

And even if you don’t want to dive headfirst into digital reading … at least you have access to digital only books! And that’s always a cool thing!